


Four in Hand

by Imagining_in_the_Margins



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Awkward Crush, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Tension, Crushes, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romantic Fluff, Self-Insert, Ties & Cravats, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:47:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26207401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imagining_in_the_Margins/pseuds/Imagining_in_the_Margins
Summary: Spencer needs help with his tie.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/You
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	Four in Hand

I was late. I was late to an event honoring David Rossi, and he was definitely going to be pissed. I didn’t have a good excuse for being late, either— at least, not one I could tell him. The truth was that I was late because I had redone my hair and make-up three times each while getting ready. Why did I do something so asinine for a work event, you ask?

Well…

“Ugh!”

The noise was the first thing that alerted me to his presence, but once I saw him hiding out behind the entryway pillar, I realized there was no place better suited for him. Spencer Reid was just the kind of guy that seemed to fit right in among anachronistic architecture, hiding from the spotlight and extravagance of a celebrity’s event. Especially when he was fumbling with his untied tie. He didn’t normally struggle with such a thing, considering he was the kind of young prodigy who had to dress up to be taken seriously. I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn he had tied his own ties as a toddler.

But things were a little more difficult with a cast covering half of the fingers on his right hand. I had jokingly dubbed it a battle scar, but the truth was that he'd hurt it while falling down the stairs. It had happened while working on a case, after all! It just hadn’t been inflicted by a bad guy. Unless you wanted to blame the dead landlord for not maintaining the wooden staircase. But hey, they say you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.

“You doin’ alright there, bud?” I asked, watching the man nearly jump off the ground in shock. For all my lack of self-awareness, Spencer seemed even worse. Once he realized it was only me, his whole body relaxed. Both of his hands fell to the side as a deep sigh fell from his chest.

“Is it that obvious?”

“You’re a one-handed man trying to do a two-handed task.” I said through a giggle, taking a few steps forward to join him on the side of the stairs.

“Tons of people tie a tie with one hand!” He defensively replied, his words rushing out in that usual, frantic manner. “Haven’t you ever heard of Károly Takács, the Hungarian Olympian for pistol firing? I bet he could tie his own tie.”

I stared at him for a minute with a pitiful stare because no, I did not, in fact, know about the Hungarian pistol-wielding Olympian. I didn’t even know such a sport existed. He caught onto my confusion quickly, his shoulders hunching forward further as he pouted. It was just adorable enough to make me laugh.

“You might possess a certain level of genius, Spencer, but it is not the kinesthetic kind.” I said with a gentle pat on his shoulder.

“What if I just… don’t wear one?”

“In there?” I gestured to the open doors leading to a literal red carpet, the sounds of the party rolling into the cool night air. “Rossi will ridicule you forever.”

“Fine.” He sighed, turning to me with an excited glimmer in his eyes. “Can you help me?”

“Me? I don’t know how to tie a tie!” I squeaked, holding a hand over my chest in my exasperation.

“You were just making fun of me!” His voice was a similar tune, a nervous laughter bubbling in his chest as he struggled to explain his logic. “If you’re going to make fun of me, you should know how to do it yourself.”

“I don’t wear ties, Spencer.” I droned, dragging the back of my fingers along the curves of my body to remind him that I was, in fact, a woman who liked dresses. I would probably look good in a tie, too, but I wasn’t going to give up that ammunition just yet.

“I’ll show you how. Please?” He was bouncing on his toes, that damn puppy dog pout returning to his lips. His eyes were even more pathetic: wide and looking up at me with his chin dropped. He always knew how to get his way. At least when it came to me, anyway.

“Fine!” I groaned as loudly as I possibly could, tucking my clutch under my arm before roughly grabbing the ends of the tie and pulling him closer to me.

It was a bad idea. I miscalculated. He didn’t fall over or anything— although that would have been hilarious, — it just brought him way, way, _way_ too close to me. He was close enough that I could feel his warm breath on my face and feel the folds of his suit jacket against my shoulders.

Slowly, I looked up to meet his eyes. It was an even worse idea, because I found him looking back at me with an admiration that looked way too good on him. He was looking at me like he'd just been waiting to be this close to me. Like it was his plan all along.

“S-So, what do I do?” I stammered. He definitely noticed.

I’m still not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t for his good hand to rise slowly and cover one of mine; I tensed at the contact. At first I was nervous that he would be offended, but the tiniest curve tugged at his lips. Together, he guided our hands to start wrapping the silk fabric around itself. 

“Round and round the garden.” He whispered, and although it took me a minute, I realized what was happening before he continued.

“Are you reciting that kid’s rhyme to me?” I deadpanned; my mouth that had been puckered shut dropping into a flat line. Because I wasn’t a kid— I just didn’t have any brothers or feel the need to learn to tie one before!

Spencer didn’t answer, although that little curve stretched into a toothy grin, his hand continuing to lead me while he tried not to laugh through the words. “Up the rabbit hole… Take the rabbit by its head…”

I swallowed when our hands passed by his face. I’d never wanted to touch him so badly. To finally do what I’d been dreaming about for over a year now; to grab the big, stupid, brilliant idiot by his face and kiss him like he deserved to be kissed. The urge was almost unbearable.

“And tuck it down below.” He finished, and his voice was barely audible over the sounds of the party inside. They still felt like a million years away.

He was looking at me. Spencer was watching me as I pulled the tie into place. I could hardly keep my eyes on the strip, too distracted by the way his gaze burned into my already burning face. People always made the joke that profilers could read minds, but there was no way he could tell what I was thinking, right?

He didn’t know that I wanted to kiss him, did he? I wouldn’t have been that disappointed if he did know… as long as he felt the same. But that was a big and very scary ‘ _if_.’ So, I took a step back, my palms hitting his chest firmly to keep my distance from him as I looked at the horrible mess of the knot that I’d given him.

“There. It looks like shit.” I said confidently, patting him gently before I realized that the continued contact was still weird. But when my hands came back to my sides, they felt so much colder without him.

“Thanks.” He beamed, a soft joy permeating through his entire body. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it was just me idealizing the man like I always did, or if he was actually radiating sunshine. Spencer Reid was just that kind of man. The kind of man you quickly race away from to join the party, hoping that it’ll distract you from how badly you want to kiss him.

“Come on, idiot. We’re late!” I shouted before I made it too far. I didn’t look back, although I heard him following at a light jog. We entered the room together at the worst possible time. Rossi spotted us immediately, which made sense considering the fact that he was in the middle of a toast while everyone else was seated. But he let us sit in grace, finishing up like we hadn’t just turned half the heads in the room by stumbling in, me looking absolutely flustered and Spencer in a state of messy dress.

Oops.

We almost got away with it. The party swelled and fell so quickly. The time seemed to fly by, but I guess it always did when I got to listen to Spencer talk. It was just the two of us standing together when Rossi finally made his way over, with a _very_ judgmental look on his face.

“Ah, the late lovebirds.” He teased, and Spencer’s deep and immediate blush was paired well with my glare at the implication.

_‘If only_ ,’ I thought, but “Ha-ha, very funny,” is what I said.

He turned to look at Spencer, who was still avoiding both of our eyes after the joke. He never did quite like it when people made jokes about our friendship. I couldn’t ever tell if it was because he was ashamed or because he felt like I did.

I really hoped it was the latter.

But Rossi wasn’t looking at his eyes, he was staring at the knot that hung too low and too loose on Spencer’s neck.

“That’s the worst tied tie I’ve ever seen in my life,” he teased while grabbing the uneven ends of the fabric. “Did you do it with one hand?”

Spencer looked at me then; just in time for my mouth to scrunch up and my eyebrows to furrow at the older man. “Tie it yourself then!” I shouted, causing Rossi to turn to me with a look I could only describe as ‘scandalized.’

I wasn’t going to stay to explain the statement or how Spencer and I ended up too close and too comfortable behind a pillar on an extravagant staircase. I was going to storm off in a traditional overdramatic fashion and leave the two men to discuss how strange the women they worked with were. But before I could, that same hand that had been wrapped around mine landed on the small of my back, pulling me back towards Spencer in a loose half-hug.

“… It’s not that bad.” He sheepishly replied before looking down at me with the same smile as before. “I think I like it better this way.”


End file.
